‘Nazi’-inspired US prison guards, American ‘revolution’ and Ukraine conflict: Highlights from Viktor Bout’s RT interview
The Russian businessman described “inhuman”
conditions in US jails and ridiculed claims that he armed the Taliban
In
his first major interview since his release, Viktor Bout, whom the US
claimed was an arms dealer, spoke to RT on Saturday. Bout was returned
to Russia in a high-profile prisoner swap for basketball player Brittney
Griner on Thursday.
During the conversation, the businessman
revealed his techniques to stay sane while behind bars, spoke about the
conflict in Ukraine and on whether he believed the US might be on the
verge of an uprising.
The President believes that the former German leader's remarks justified Moscow's offensive in Ukraine
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has
said he is “disappointed” by former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s
recent comments regarding the Minsk agreements – the now defunct roadmap
for peace in Ukraine – which she admitted was a ruse to buy Ukraine
more time to build up its military.
“What can you say to that?”
Putin said during a press conference on Friday, adding that he was
shocked to hear such a confession from the former German leader, having
believed that Russia’s partners in Berlin “treated us with sincerity.”
The
Russian leader said Merkel’s remarks once again prove that launching a
military operation in Ukraine was the correct decision.
“As it turns out, nobody intended to fulfil any part of the Minsk agreements,”
Putin said, recalling that former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko
also recently admitted that he had no intention of adhering to the
documents when he signed them in 2014 and 2015.
“I thought the
other participants of this agreement were at least honest, but no, it
turns out they were also lying to us and only wanted to pump Ukraine
with weapons and get it prepared for a military conflict,” Putin said. “Apparently,
we got our bearings too late, to be honest. Maybe we should have
started all this [the military operation] earlier, but we just hoped
that we would be able to solve it within the framework of the Minsk
agreements.”
Vladimir Putin said Merkel’s admission raises an important question about trust. “Trust
is already almost at zero, but after such statements, how can we
possibly negotiate? About what? Can we make any agreements with anybody
and where are the guarantees?” Putin asked, while acknowledging that some sort of agreement will have to be reached eventually.
Putin’s
comments follow Angela Merkel’s interview with the newspaper Die Zeit
on Wednesday, in which she said the actual purpose of the 2014-2015
Minsk agreements was to stall for time and allow Kiev to build up its
military potential for a future confrontation with Russia.
Moscow
has expressed shock over the admission, with Russia’s Foreign Ministry
claiming that Merkel’s words are legitimate grounds for a tribunal.
The
Minsk agreements, brokered by Germany and France, were supposed to be a
roadmap for peace in the war-torn country, giving the regions of
Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state, whose
rule they rejected after the 2014 Maidan coup.
Russian has
explained that its current military offensive in Ukraine was largely
prompted by Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the accords."
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